Chapter 260: Chapter 260: If She Were Ruined, Would He Still Want Her?
"Thank you, Joanna."
Lillian Forrest didn’t like Joanna Sherman, but she still had basic manners.
"How did you know my score, Joanna?"
Joanna Sherman smiled. "Your brother told me."
"He’s over the moon that his family has a brilliant little sister now."
Lillian Forrest smiled shyly.
"Oh, by the way, is this your classmate?" Joanna Sherman pointed to the boy behind her. "Everyone else went over there to ask about filling out their college applications. Why didn’t you go?"
The boy’s face turned an even deeper shade of red.
He said in a low voice, "No need to ask. Lillian and I are going to the same university."
It was obvious the boy had mustered all his courage to say those words. His lips were pressed into an awkward line, but he couldn’t stop his eyes from drifting toward Lillian Forrest.
Lillian Forrest’s face instantly flushed bright red.
"Who said I’m going to the same one as you!" she retorted. "Your grades are good enough for a better university."
"Which university I go to isn’t important."
The boy didn’t finish his sentence. The meaning was clear to anyone who understood.
Joanna Sherman feigned a slight purse of her lips.
"Alright, I won’t disturb you two any longer. I have other things to do, so I’ll be going."
With that, she turned and left.
The blush still hadn’t faded from Lillian Forrest’s face, but the boy’s hand had sneakily hooked around her finger. "Lillian, we agreed. We’ll start dating once we’re in college."
Lillian was mortified. "Don’t just grab my hand. People will see."
"They’re all busy. They don’t have time to look at us," the boy said, then added defiantly, "And even if they do see, it doesn’t matter. I want them to know that I like you."
"Rhea Dunn, shut your mouth."
"Lillian, are you mad? I’ll stop talking, okay?"
"Hmph!"
The playful banter between the young couple was so sweet it seemed to perfume the very air with honey.
Only Ma Lane’s face was twisted in anger.
Seeing the man with the gold chain leave, she strode up to Liam Reed. "That Lillian Forrest is such a little slut. I worked so hard to raise her all these years, and what does she do? She turns around and throws herself at another man!"
Ma Lane’s words were harsh and nasty, as if she had actually raised Lillian Forrest herself.
Liam Reed was just as furious, but he could only scowl and say, "If she wants to have a change of heart, what can I do? I’m telling you, Ma, you should have found a way to stop that tutor from ever setting foot in the house!"
"Without her, Lillian would still be as timid and skittish as before. She wouldn’t have gotten such good scores, no boys would like her, and your son wouldn’t feel like he’s not good enough for her now!"
Liam Reed didn’t think his not being good enough for Lillian Forrest was his own problem or something he should work on. Instead, he felt it was Ma Lane who had made the mistake.
Ma Lane pouted. "How was I supposed to know she was so capable?"
"Ever since she arrived, Lillian Forrest has stopped listening. No amount of persuasion works!"
"I told her brother, but he wouldn’t listen either. It’s infuriating!"
The daughter-in-law she’d had in her grasp had just flown the coop, and Ma Lane was in a terrible mood.
"Lillian Forrest never used to dare interact with anyone. I have no idea what happened, but as soon as this tutor showed up, she started relying on her."
Ma Lane had been plotting to control Lillian Forrest for a long time. Under the guise of caring for her, she would frighten her, painting the outside world as a treacherous place and people’s hearts as terrifying. She would also constantly, both overtly and subtly, put her down, telling her she was blind and that people were only nice to her because of Jenson Forrest.
In short, the blind are useless, the blind are looked down upon, the blind are inferior...
She had indirectly said everything she could to make Lillian Forrest withdraw into herself.
Her "lessons" had made Lillian Forrest extremely sensitive.
Withdrawn and timid.
The more she became like that, the more she relied on Ma Lane, and the more she relied on her, the more she believed everything she was taught.
Ma Lane had always believed that no one besides her own son would ever marry Lillian Forrest.
To Ma Lane, Lillian Forrest dating a classmate was a sign of promiscuity, as if her own son had been cuckolded!
Liam Reed snorted. "Last time she was abducted and disappeared for a day and a night, I said I should take advantage of her vulnerability and make her rely on me. You were the one who was afraid she’d been defiled and wouldn’t let me near her. What’s the point of saying all this now?"
Ma Lane regretted it, too.
"Wasn’t I just thinking of your own good?"
"What if she caught a venereal disease or was pregnant with some bastard child? Wouldn’t that be unfair to you?"
Liam Reed sneered, "We’re after the Forrest Family’s status and position anyway. Does it matter if she’s ’clean’ or not?"
As he spoke, his eyes were fixed on Lillian Forrest, and his heart itched with desire.
The old, withdrawn Lillian Forrest was like a tattered rag doll, not very appealing. But now she was poised and graceful, confident and happy, more delightful to look at than any flower in the garden."
The more Liam Reed looked, the more his desire grew.
"Ma, you think that little schoolboy would still want her if she’s not a virgin?"
Ma Lane scoffed.
"Are you kidding me? I got a clear look just now. The car that dropped that kid off is from no small background. Would a family like that accept damaged goods?"
"You’re not thinking of spreading rumors about that incident, are you? Lillian Forrest told me nothing happened to her."
Liam Reed said nothing, but a dark light flickered in the depths of his eyes.
When Sophia Shaw returned with the students after discussing their college applications, she saw Lillian Forrest and Rhea Dunn shyly holding hands.
She couldn’t help but be slightly taken aback.
She had always known there was something between them, but they had never taken that final step.
’Lillian Forrest had previously said she wanted to wait until after college started to think about romance. Why were they suddenly holding hands?’
When the other students saw them holding hands, they all started teasing them.
Lillian Forrest was so embarrassed she hid behind Sophia Shaw, while Rhea Dunn, looking uncomfortable, barked at the crowd, "All of you, shut it!"
He was annoyed that they were making Lillian Forrest shy.
"Sophie, let’s go,"
Lillian Forrest said, too embarrassed to face everyone as she tugged on Sophia Shaw’s arm.
Sophia Shaw held Bun with one arm and led her out with the other.
"Why the sudden public announcement?" she asked casually once they were somewhere private.
Lillian Forrest stomped her foot uncomfortably. "That idiot, Rhea! A moment ago, Joanna asked him why he didn’t come to you for advice on his major, and he blurted out that he wants to go to the same school as me, and then..."
The young girl’s face flushed red again, and she was too embarrassed to continue.
Sophia Shaw’s expression faltered slightly.
’She was a bit surprised that the arrogant Joanna Sherman would be the one to bring something like that out into the open, but she didn’t give it much more thought.’
For the next while, Sophia Shaw remained busy with the Zenith satellite launch.
On the rare occasions she went home to take Bun out for a walk, she would always catch a faint glimpse of a familiar man’s figure.
Sophia Shaw pretended not to see him, and he never approached.
Sometimes when she went downstairs, she would overhear the cleaning staff gossiping about a man who would stand downstairs near her building all night long. They wondered which resident he was connected to and what he wanted.
Sophia Shaw pretended to hear none of it and went about her business as usual.
The satellite launch entered its final sprint. Sophia Shaw and the engineers spent their days in the launch simulation room, running tests to find and correct any potential problems that might arise during the actual launch.
The simulations triggered Sophia Shaw’s workaholic tendencies, and she ended up staying in the launch room for two days and one night straight.
The engineers voluntarily stayed up with her. Though their eyes were bloodshot from exhaustion, every one of them was in high spirits, more energized than if they had taken Popeye’s spinach.
Only after the final simulation was complete did Sophia Shaw lead the team out.
"You’ve all worked hard. Come on, let’s get some good food."
Just as they walked out, Joanna Sherman’s secretary pushed over a large cart laden with delicacies.
The team looked at the food on the cart, then at each other in confusion.
Joanna Sherman walked in from behind them, her listlessness from the past few days gone, replaced by a radiant glow. "I had this specially ordered from The God of Cookery. Please, eat your fill."
Joanna Sherman deliberately raised an eyebrow at Sophia Shaw. "Chief Engineer Shaw wouldn’t refuse my hospitality, would she?"
"Why would I refuse free food?" Sophia Shaw said nonchalantly, walking over to the hastily assembled table and taking a seat.
Immediately, chefs dispatched by The God of Cookery spread out a tablecloth and arranged the food. They even put on a live performance, roasting a whole lamb and skillfully flipping flatbreads.
Sophia Shaw watched the performance as she ate and commented, "This meal must have cost tens of thousands. Has Joanna Sherman always been this generous?"
An engineer sitting nearby shook his head. "In the past, whenever Chief Engineer Sherman ran a project, she acted like a landlord’s overseer, demanding the best work with zero benefits. It was always President Grant who paid out of his own pocket to treat everyone to good food."
Another added, "Chief Engineer Sherman acts like she’s our savior. Her words always imply that we’re blessed to work with her, and we should be grateful she doesn’t make us kowtow in thanks."
"That’s strange," Sophia Shaw said, confused.
Jacobs strode in and sat down next to Sophia Shaw. "You don’t know, do you? While you all were in the simulation room for the past two days, Joanna Sherman landed a huge contract."
"That proposal Joanna Sherman submitted last time is about to get green-lit."
Sophia Shaw froze. "Vincent Grant funded it?"
